Does This Darkness Have a Name
by sototallyrandom
Summary: Takes place during the school shooting in season three. What would have happened if it had gone differently and Nathan has to help Haley fight for her life and struggle to recover? Haley was with Peyton and Brooke when the first shot was fired, but she is separated from them in the panic.
1. Chapter 1

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**Summary: Takes place during the school shooting in season three. What would have happened if it had gone differently and Nathan has to help Haley fight for her life? Haley was with Peyton and Brooke when the first shot was fired, but she is separated from them in the panic.**

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**-sototallyrandom**

Haley's POV

"Thanks for the help Tutor-wife." Brooke thanks me, using her usual nickname.

"Anytime." I tell her as we round a corner in the hall. Brooke, Peyton, and I had just left the tutor center after a before-school tutor-session to help Brooke pass a science test. I had been working vigorously to help Brooke understand and Peyton had been quietly working on her art in the third seat at our table. When the light bulb finally lit in Brooke's head, the hours spent in the library all week before school were worth it.

"You have the test first period, right?" I ask her.

"Yup. In five minutes when that dreaded bell rings." She confirms.

"You're quiet today Peyton." Brooke tells her. She doesn't even respond, she just continues to walk in between Brooke and I, holding her sketch book on one arm and scratching lines with her pencil with the other.

Brooke and I look back to each other and smile.

"Guys get down!" Peyton screams, dropping to the ground. Brooke immediately does the same, but I look up to see a gun pointed at the window we're standing behind. I'm frozen in shock.

"Haley!" Brooke shouts before yanking me down to the tile floor by my wrist. The glass shatters above us and I throw my arms over my head in defense as the shards rain down on us. It's silent for a split second and then the halls break out into chaos, teenagers running in every direction and screams echoing through the hallways.

"Come on let's go!" Brooke says, taking both Peyton and I by the wrist and dragging us to our feet. They both start to run, but I stumble on my first step and collapse to the ground, my arms just barely having time to break my fall. I wince as pain shoots up my leg and look down to find a small shard of glass protruding from my lower calf. I look back up to find Brooke and Peyton, scanning the hallway for Peyton's curly blonde hair or Brooke's outrageous school style choices.

I finally spot them trying to make their way back to me but being pushed towards the door by the moving crowd. Peyton's leg is also leaving a trail of blood and my heart sinks to my stomach as she collapses into Brooke's arms.

"Brooke!" I scream.

"Hang in there Tutor-girl!" Brooke screams back towards me. Before I know it she's been swept away with the other teenagers towards the front exit. At least she's safe and she can get Peyton medical attention.

I finally bring my attention back to myself to find that I'm being trampled. Frightened students assume I'm dead and can't avoid stepping on me, kicking me, or tripping over me on their way out. A tennis shoe lands on my hand and I yelp in pain, bringing it closer to myself and attempting to curl into a ball to defend myself. With my leg throbbing the way it is I won't be able to get up without being knocked back down. The blows to my head are the worst, but it still hurts horribly when my back is kicked or someone stumbles over my leg.

When the halls are finally empty I manage to pull myself to my feet and lean on the wall. I look around and get my bearings. Among the mess of homework assignments, pencils, and backpacks on the tile floor is a pair of shoes. My eyes follow the trail up his leg and hoodie until they land on his face. Jimmy Edwards.

"Jimmy, help me get out of here!" I say, utterly relieved that I have someone to help me get out before anything happens. I take a hop towards him and wince, stopping and leaning back against the wall. When Jimmy doesn't answer me I look up at him again and only this time I notice the gun held slack in his hand at his side.

My eyes widen and I open my mouth to say something, but my no words can form in my mouth to express myself. Jimmy stares at me with sad eyes and looks down at my leg. I want to get a good look at my injury too, but I won't let myself take my eyes off the gun. His hand makes the slightest movement and I bolt, completely ignoring the searing pain in my leg as I sprint towards where I know the nearest classroom is, hoping to god he doesn't follow me, because he'd catch up in no time flat because of my leg.

When I finally find an unlocked classroom I dive into it, locking the door behind me from the ground. My breaths come in quick gasps and I slouch back against the door and try to calm down. I try to process everything that just happened, but I can't even begin to understand or comprehend. How could Jimmy do this?

When I notice the large dark spot on my jeans I begin to panic. I find the glass with my fingers and look away at the ceiling as I quickly - but carefully – slide the glass out of my calf. I suck in a breath and clamp my hands above and below the injury, rocking back and forth a few times to avoid screaming and giving away my location if Jimmy doesn't already know.

Brooke's POV

Amidst the pure chaos, I manage to find Haley on the ground, only a few feet away from where we ducked when we heard the shot. I call out to her and try to go back, but I'm being pushed along by the crowd and I can feel the weight of a weakening Peyton as she loses blood.

"Hang in there Tutor-girl!" I scream. I suddenly wish I had used her real name after an instant of having a feeling that I'm never going to see her again.

In the rushing crowd I suddenly feel Peyton's arm slipping from my grasp and I look around frantically to try and catch sight of her. Nothing. I try to push against the current of frantically escaping students, but there are too many of them and only one of me.

"Peyton!" I cry out in hysterics. I am officially the worst friend ever. Both of my best friends are injured and I couldn't manage to save one of them.

"Brooke! Come on girl!" Skills' voice reaches my ears and he grabs my wrist, dragging me towards the exit behind him and Bevin much against my will.

"Peyton! Haley!" I cry out one last time before exiting the school. The sun that was warm on my face half an hour ago blinds me as I wander aimlessly around the schoolyard, still whipping my head left and right with the naive hope that I'll see Haley lying down on the grass or Peyton limping towards Lucas. Lucas! I sprint towards the unloading bus in the parking lot and drop my backpack to go faster.

"Lucas!" I cry. I have too much speed to stop and Lucas catches me in a hug.

"What's going on?" He asks. Over Lucas's shoulder I see Nathan looking at the school building concerned and I hate to tell him.

"Someone brought a gun to school and they're shooting." I cry desperately.

"Calm down Brooke, you're ok!" Lucas assures me, squeezing both of my upper arms to hold me still.

"No! You don't get it! I'm sorry!" I scream over the chaos. Now Nathan has joined Lucas in my interrogation.

"What do you mean Brooke?" He asks.

"Peyton and Haley, I lost them in the crowd, I'm sorry!" I cry. "Peyton was shot and I think Haley is bleeding!" I sob, pulling Lucas into a hug. Both of their eyes widen to the size of saucers and Nathan sprints toward the front door.

"Stay here Brooke." He tells me calmly before running after Nathan. A ragged sob escapes my lips as Whitey calls the boys back. They don't listen.

Nathan's POV

"Peyton and Haley, I lost them in the crowd, I'm sorry! Peyton was shot and I think Haley is bleeding!" Brooke sobs hysterically. Suddenly everything makes sense. The running, the screaming, everything. It makes sense, but I don't see how it could happen. My heart aches for Haley and I run towards the building, my objective not to stay alive, but to find Haley and make sure _she_ stays that way. Alive. I ignore coach as he calls for me to get back on the bus and I head straight for the main entrance.

Before I can get there Lucas tackles me from behind and we both go tumbling into the mulch which is sure to leave us lots of marks the next time we care to check.

"Get off me!" I yell at him. "Haley's in there!" As I tell Lucas, it suddenly becomes a reality to me. My best friend, the one I love most, my wife. She's stuck in that school possibly injured with a student who's not afraid to use his gun. I'm the only one who can get her out, it's my responsibility. I picture her face, her waving dirty blonde hair framing her perfect face with her pale skin tone which matches her brown eyes so well. Her smile is more like a smirk, lifting higher on one side, but still beautiful. The image is disrupted in my mind like a reflection in a rainy pond as I bring myself back to the real world, where her face won't be so cheerful and optimistic and her sweet innocence could be ripped away from her.

"It's Haley." I tell him, my eyebrows furrowed and my eyes watering. "Peyton is in there too. I know you guys aren't dating anymore, but I know you care about her." I try to guilt him into not only letting me go, but coming with me. If Peyton and Haley are together when I find them I don't know if I'll be able to get them both out.

"I'm not going to leave Haley in there alone." I tell him. He doesn't respond, but when I jog towards the doors I hear his footsteps behind mine.

* * *

"Look, there's blood." Lucas whispers, pointing to the puddle on the ground near a broken window. My heart leaps out of my chest when I remember Brooke telling us Haley might be bleeding, because there is a lot of blood splattered on the floor, way too much to come out of a cut or scrape. As I look closer, I am relieved to find two trails of blood. It comforts me slightly to know the large amount of blood isn't only from one person and it's shared between multiple people, making the injuries seem less severe.

"I'll follow this trail, you follow that one." I tell Lucas, clutching the baseball bat I picked up in my fist.

"Nathan…" Lucas starts to say. A moment of silence passes.

"I know. You too." I tell him, opening the door beside the useless window and follow a path down the hall. Part of me hopes the path leads me to Haley so I can protect her, but the other part, the bigger part, hopes this path leads me to someone else so I know the blood on the floor doesn't belong to my wife.

Haley's POV

All I can do is watch as the blood leaks out of my leg, having already applied pressure by tying the sleeves of my jacket around it.

My bottom lip quivers as a tear runs down my cheek. Jimmy and I used to be friends! We hung out at the river court with Lucas, Mouth, Skills, and the others all the time! The Jimmy I know would never be capable of such a horrible thing.

When the blood soaks through my jacket sleeves I begin to feel dizzy and I know I can't just sit here. I've been telling myself I've been fine and it's just a little cut, but when I look back down to the bloody shard of glass on the tile, it's much larger than I've been trying to convince myself it is.

I remember with a start that first aid kits are on the walls in every room next to the fire extinguisher for emergency purposes. I zero in on the small white box with the cross on it on the other side of the room.

"Come on, you can do it. You ran all the way here." I grunt to myself as I use the handle on the door to pull myself to my feet. I hop on one leg and keep a good hold on the desks, but every time my foot lands on the ground it bounces my other leg and I clench my jaw. When I finally get to the other side of the room I gratefully slide to the floor with my back against the wall beside the first aid kit, unhooking it and bringing it down with me.

I unlatch the plastic box and begin to sift through its contents. I find some useful things and place the box next to my left thigh, leaning over to slowly roll up my right pants leg. It takes a few minutes, but I manage to not touch the wound while pulling up the leg of my pants and taking off the jacket. I apply almost half the tube of Neosporin to keep out infections. The once clear gel quickly turns red and blends in with the blood. After this I fumble with the white bandage and finally grasp the end between my fingers. I cautiously begin to wrap it around my leg, tight enough to keep pressure on it, but not tight enough to cut off the blood circulation to my foot. By the time I've finished taking care of it, my hands are coated in blood and shaking.

I crawl back to the door, my leg now in less pain, and sit in front of it. If anyone does try to get in my weight will help block the door.

My eyes widen and I stop breathing when something raps on the other side of the door I'm leaning my back against. I close my eyes and pray that it isn't Jimmy. A soft skidding noise draws my attention to the floor on my left, where Nathan's driver's license has slid across the white tiles under the heavy wooden door. I smile and reach my hand up to unlock the door, but I bring it back down an instant before turning the lock. A horrible thought breaches the security of my mind. What if something has happened to Nathan and Jimmy is using his license to get me to let him in? I pick up the card and throw it across the room with hot angry tears forming in my eyes as I decide whether or not to open the door.

I think for a moment and come up with an idea. If Nathan really is out there, he'll know how to respond. With much pain and difficulty I turn and press my cheek up against the cool surface near the crack at the doorframe.

"Always." I whisper. I wait for what seems like an eternity for a response. If it's Nathan, he'll know what to say. If not, he won't know what the hell I'm talking about. I wait another few agonizing seconds before Nathan's voice like honey leaks through the crack.

"And forever." He finishes the sentence just above a whisper. I launch myself to my feet and unlock the door. The second the lock clicks out of place Nathan turns the handle and opens the door. I step back so the door won't hit me and lunge into Nathan's arms.

"Haley, it's ok, I've got you. You're safe." He comforts me as I sob into his shoulder, leaving tear stains on his shirt. Nathan takes another step into the room while I'm still latched onto him and closes the door behind him. When he finally wraps his arms around me all the problems in my small little world melt into the background and Nathan's heartbeat is the only thing that matters.

"Haley, you're bleeding." Nathan says in horror, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me away just long enough for him to take a good look at me.

"Sit down." He tells me, leading me back to sit under the door so we can't be seen through the tiny rectangular window.

"Hales, what happened to you?" He asks with tears in his eyes. I'm crying as well and Nathan reaches towards my face and wipes away the tears with his thumb. I didn't even realize there was something wrong with my face until I notice the blood on his thumb.

"It was like a stampede." I tell him, my mind wandering back to being trampled in the hall.

"It was awful, they all thought I was dead and they just stepped on me." I cry, leaning into Nathan's side.

"We're going to wait this out, ok? The police are going to fix everything." Nathan tells me. He reaches for my leg to take a look at it, but I pull it away.

"Piece of glass. I really don't want to take the pressure off." I tell him. He seems hurt that I won't let him help, but I know he understands. His eyes wander to the bloody shard of glass on the floor and when he looks back his eyes are watering.

"You had to take care of it yourself?" He asks.

"I'm fine Nathan."

"You're so strong Haley, so strong." He whispers, gathering me in his arms and holding me close. He comforts me by running his fingers through my hair and I relax into his side, wanting nothing more than to close my eyes and go to sleep right here.

When Nathan's cell phone goes off we both flinch and he frantically searches all his pockets to silence it. When he finally finds it, he stares at the screen and picks up instead of silencing it.

"What are you doing?" I whisper-yell.

"It's Lucas!" He whispers back. I shut up and try to listen to what Lucas is saying on the other side of the call but I can't make out any of the words so I rely on Nathan's facial expressions. When he hangs up he looks at me with concern.

"Lucas and Peyton are in the library, Peyton's leg is hurt too." Nathan tells me.

"That's good they're both hiding in the library right?" I ask.

"The library doesn't lock, it's not safe." Nathan tells me. I know the direction he's going with this and I hate it.

"Don't leave me alone Nate." I beg with tears in my eyes.

"Lucas needs help. He needs someone to protect him while he carries Peyton back here so they can stay with us." Nathan says sorrowfully.

"Please Nathan! I'm scared!" I cry. I've had enough, I just want Nathan to stay here with me.

"You'll be ok. Just keep this door locked and stay quiet." Nathan tells me, nudging me away from the door so he can open it. He slips out and closes the door behind me. I open the door and lean my head out, looking both directions down the hall. Nathan is nowhere to be seen.

"Nathan!" I whisper. "Nathan!" I let out a strangled sob as I get back in the classroom and lock the door. What if something happens to Nathan while he's out there? I should have made him stay! The only thing that makes it better is that I know he'll be back soon with Lucas and Peyton. At least I hope.

"Haley." At first I think I just imagined it, but it comes again with more volume.

"Come out, come out, Haley!" Jimmy's voice calls. He calls in a high pitched voice and drags out my name, as if he's calling for a dog that's hiding from a bath.

"I know you're in there, your husband just left." Although I'm terrified, I suddenly become angry at the thought that Jimmy could have done something to Nathan.

"Don't worry, I didn't hurt him. It's you I'm after." He calls, obviously getting closer to the door.

"Come on, Hales." Jimmy says, using my friends' nickname for me. He doesn't have the right to use it anymore.

"I only need a hostage so the police will let me out of here, I promise I won't hurt you." He says slyly. No way I'm falling for it. I try to hold my breath when he knocks on the door just above my head. I can feel the vibration down the door in my back.

"If you let me in there's no reason for me to be nasty." He tells me, knocking again. I try to quiet my breathing and slow my heartbeat, but nothing is working.

Jimmy sighs. "Fine. Just know it didn't have to be this way." The glass of the little window above me shatters and I'm covering my face from showing glass for the second time today. When I look up, I can't help but scream. Jimmy's red hoodie sleeve reaches in the door and slowly turns the lock with a click.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I scream, scrambling away from the door and towards the other corner of the classroom, crashing into desks and chairs.

"Come on Hales, we're friends." Jimmy says menacingly. The glass he walks over while coming towards me makes cracking noises.

I shake my head furiously and try to open the locked window.

"You want me to break that one too?" He asks with a sneer, raising the gun to face it. He's aiming for the same window my head is by, so I duck just before the shot shatters it. I think about jumping out, but there are long, jagged shards of glass still hanging onto the frames, guarding the exit with knives.

"Ok, let's go." Jimmy says, grabbing me by wrapping an arm around my neck. I choke and gasp for breath, trying to scream for help, but he continues to pull me towards the hall backwards. When we're in the hall he finally releases my neck and instead wraps his arm around the front of my shoulders from behind, keeping me close to his body.

"I suggest you cooperate." He says, pressing the cold barrel of the gun into my set jaw. I nod as the tears continue to build up and walk with him down the hall. I watch my feet as we walk down the halls. Sometimes Jimmy accidentally kicks me in the heels due to our shared stepping space. I let out small whimpers for Nathan every few meters and Jimmy jabs me with the gun to keep me quiet.


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan's POV

I clutch the baseball bat in my hands, the only thing I can think about being Haley's horrified face when I left the classroom and the amount of blood she trails behind her everywhere she goes. It killed me to see her that way, scared and bloodied, but I also have the responsibility to help my brother and my friend get back to the same room as Haley.

I keep picturing Haley's face, her eyes wide with fear. She has a cut on her cheek that may need stitches and her lip is busted and swollen. I also couldn't help but notice the bruises and red marks on her arms and shoulders, probably from the stampede she described in the hallway. It breaks my heart to see her this way and know that I wasn't there to help her, and I'm still not. That's why I need to hurry and find Peyton and Lucas so I can get back to her.

When I'm finally almost to the library after slinking around the school, I stop in my tracks at a corner when I hear light thudding footsteps on the other side. I turn the last corner with the bat above my head.

"Whoa Nathan! It's just me!" Lucas whispers. I let the bat down and stare at Peyton, who is fighting to stay conscious in Lucas's arms.

"She's bleeding badly." Lucas says, indicating towards Peyton's leg with his head. I become concerned for Haley when I see how much blood Peyton has lost. Peyton looks like she's on her death bed and she's hardly lost much more blood than Haley.

"Ok guys, Haley is this way." I tell Lucas. I know it's terrible, but I'm glad Haley hadn't been where Peyton was standing when the first shot went off. When I think about it, I've realized I haven't even heard a shot. I wasn't here for the first one and no one has heard one since.

"Not much further." I tell them.

"Haley is ok, right?" Lucas asks.

"She was fine when I left her." My answer drives a stake through my heart. _When I left her._ I remember Haley begging me to stay with tears in her eyes because she was scared. At least we'll all get there in a minute and she won't be alone, she'll have all three of us.

I hear a bang in the distance and look back towards Lucas, who obviously heard it too, because his eyes are widened.

"Was that what I think it was?" Lucas asks.

"Haley." I say, realizing that it came from the same direction as Haley's classroom.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I hear a scream. My heart pounds and nearly jumps out of my throat.

"That was… that was…" I stutter.

"That was Haley!" Lucas finishes. "Come on man! We have to go save her!" Lucas says in tears. I break into a sprint, knowing Lucas won't be able to catch up. I have to get to her. It was my fault anyway, I shouldn't have left her. I should have brought her with me, even if I had to carry her and make me coming to help Lucas with my free hands completely pointless. I should have listened to her.

I don't want to call Haley's name, or I'll lose my only advantage over whoever has a gun- the element of surprise. Another shot goes off, and by the time I reach the classroom, there's no sign of Haley. The door is hanging wide open and the small door window is shattered along with a full size window in the room.

"Haley." I cry, dropping to my knees. "I'm so sorry." I whisper. When Lucas catches up and gasps, I get a rush of adrenaline and a determination to murder whoever took Haley.

"I'm going to find her, and so help me god, if I don't kill him while saving Haley, I'll kill him afterwards." I growl, getting to my feet and taking off in the only direction they could have gone. There are only two directions, and I just came from one of them. If I hurry I can catch up, especially if the shooter has to bring a person. I shake a disturbing image of Haley's body being dragged across the tile out of my head and run even faster. She can't be dead. He must want a hostage to get out of the school without the cops arresting him. I reach part of the school where two hallways intersect, and I have to pick one of the three directions to continue on, not having a path to directly lead me this time. I turn right.

Haley's POV

"There he goes." Jimmy whispers into my ear. I try to cry out for Nathan as I watch him turn right and run the opposite direction from me, but the cigarette-smelling hand covering my mouth is preventing it and we're hidden in a janitor's closet, the door cracked open.

"Lucas won't be coming, he has to save Peyton." Jimmy tells himself. Save Peyton? Is she that injured? When Nathan rounds a corner and is out of sight, I panic and bite down on Jimmy's hand with all the force in my jaw, breaking skin and tasting the metallic blood and cigarette smoke mixed together to create a taste that makes me want to throw up right then and there.

"Nathan!" I scream. I only get his name out once before my mouth is smothered with his hand again.

"You little bitch!" He insults me, throwing me across the janitor's closet. My stomach bangs into a table and I cry out in pain, wrapping my arms around myself protectively as I fall to the ground. Jimmy grabs some duct tape from a shelf and slaps a piece of it over my mouth before prying my arms from around my torso and taping them together in front of me.

Jimmy kicks me in the stomach as Nathan runs back past the closet door in the direction Jimmy would have taken me. My tears are flowing now and I'm unable to hold them back. Jimmy relentlessly kicks me over and over again. When he's finally finished, my body feels limp and weak as he drags me to my feet by my elbow. My knees give away and I fall halfway to the ground before Jimmy yanks me back up.

"You're walking. I'm not carrying you." He says. When we exit the closet, he looks around the halls before jerking my elbow. Jimmy is holding up most of my weight and I can hardly force myself to put one foot in front of the other as my stomach throbs and I can feel the bandage around my leg soaking through. We turn right, the way Nathan had gone the first time, but it's now the opposite of where he is headed.

Nathan's POV

I felt like I knew where she was for just a second, but it faded like her voice. She screamed my name, and I had stopped in my tracks and run back the way I had come, back to the intersection, and picking the direction I think Haley's voice came from and run down that hall.

Haley's POV

After making our way for quite a while, I finally collapse in the hall.

"Get up." Jimmy orders. The pain in my stomach and leg are just too much. I try to mumble 'I can't' but the duct tape over my mouth prevents it.

"I'm going to untie your hands so you can hold onto things and walk, but if you try to pull anything, so help me…" Jimmy kneels next to me and roughly rips the tape off my wrists, probably taking small hairs from my skin with it. I hold onto Jimmy as he lifts me to my feet, only because I don't want to get shot. I look up at Jimmy's face, and if I'm not mistaken, I see a small amount of remorse hiding in his eyes.

"Let the girl go." A booming voice suddenly orders, causing us both to jump. I know that voice, I've been trained by both Lucas and Nathan to hate it. Dan Scott.

"Let her go." Dan says, way quieter, but just as commanding. I look up to find Dan pointing a gun at us, probably aiming for Jimmy.

"Put the gun down or I'll shoot her." Jimmy threatens, pulling me close and jamming the gunpoint into my neck.

"Go ahead. As soon as you shoot her you lose your hostage and I can shoot you." Dan says.

"As soon as I let her go I lose my hostage and you can shoot me." Jimmy counters.

"I'll let you go if you let her go." Dan says, finger twitching on the trigger. In one swift movement, Jimmy drops me and runs around the corner, probably dashing to escape the school without getting caught by the police.

I'm on my hands and knees, clutching my stomach with one arm. Jimmy must have kicked me really hard. Dan walks up to me and rips the tape off of my mouth with even more force than Jimmy. I expect him to say something like "You'll be ok." Or "I'm taking you to the hospital." But instead he raises his gun from his side and points it right at me.

"I wanted to be the one to finish you off." He says. When I realize what he's intending to do, I look up at him and beg for him to spare me with only facial expressions, too afraid to say anything.

"You're ruining my son's life." He says in a monotone. I scramble to my feet and try to run, but before I even turn away from him a shot is fired and the explosive sound matches the feeling of pain I get just below my heart. I look at him with tears in my eyes, studying his angry expression. The last thing I hear is the sickening crack as my head hits the tile.

Nathan's POV

When I hear a gunshot behind me, I know I'm going the wrong way, I turn around so quickly my tennis shoes squeak and probably leave skid marks in the tile. I'm on a wild goose chase, and every shot fired is another shot that could hurt Haley. When I reach the intersection I was at before, I go the way I believe the shot came from. Right as I turn a corner, I slam into something- or someone. As soon as I clear my head I realize it's Lucas.

"Peyton is being taken to the hospital, I'm here to help save Haley." Lucas says. I've got to hand it to him, he's already saved one person and he comes back into the war zone to help save another.

"Hurry up, I heard another shot that way." I say, almost in hysterics, pointing down the hall with the baseball bat. It takes Lucas taking off down the hall for me to finally move my feet and run right behind him.

Lucas gets to the next corner before me.

"Nathan!" Lucas yells. Tears are gathering in his eyes, which makes me catch up within half a second.

"What did you do to her?!" I scream at Jimmy, whose kneeling over an unconscious Haley. The gun is on the floor next to him.

"I didn't do it!" He yells back hysterically. I run over and shove him away from the gun and Lucas punches Jimmy in the face before dragging him away, pinning him up against the wall, and calling the cops on his phone.

"Haley!" I cry, resting my hand on her cheek. When I see the blood soaking her shirt just below her chest, my breath catches in my throat and I panic.

"Lucas he shot her!" I inform him while pressing my fingers up against Haley's neck searching for a pulse. When I can't find one, I feel like I lose a pulse too. I lean over and listen for breathing, but there's no response there either.

"Haley!" I choke, putting one hand over the other to begin compressions.

"Don't do that sir!" I hear a stranger call out. I look over my shoulder to see a paramedic with a concerned look on his face.

"If that bullet is near her heart you could kill her." He rushes the words so he can finish before I do anything.

"Her heart is stopped, she'll die if I don't!" I shout.

"We need to get the bullet out first, sir, we have a machine that pumps her blood in the meantime, but if you want her to live, you have to let us take her _now_." The medic tells me. I nod and the paramedics rush over to Haley and move her to a stretcher. We run through the halls and burst out of the front doors into the bright light of the sun. I notice about a million news cameras zoom in on us as we make our way to the ambulance as quickly as we can.

Haley is lifted into the ambulance and they immediately the medics begin hooking her up to several different machines.

"Family?" A medic asks us.

"I'm her husband." My voice cracks.

"I'm her brother in law." Lucas isn't even trying to contain his tears any longer. The medic waves for us both to get in. I climb in and take one last look back at the school over my shoulder. Jimmy is handcuffed and being led into the back of a police care. I won't rest until Haley is better and that bastard is in prison for life.

"The bullet is very close to her heart, we're going to hook her up to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. It pumps blood while your heart is stopped and adds oxygen to the blood before it is pumped throughout the body." The medic continues to try and explain as he works, but I don't understand any of it and the only thing I can focus on is the machine that is now pumping Haley's blood for her.

Her face looks so pale and sickly, I feel like I'm going to throw up. She looks so innocent, lying on the stretcher with her arms at her sides where they were placed and looking as small and delicate as ever.

"You're going to be ok Haley." I whisper, clutching her hand in mine and kissing her forehead. Lucas is on the other side of the ambulance and he places his hand on Haley's other hand.

"You heard Nate, Hales; you're going to just fine. Just hang in there." He tells her. I hope we're both right.

Brooke's POV

I'm waiting in the hospital lobby for Peyton to be out of surgery and I feel like the shittiest friend in the world. The doctors told me ahead of time that she would be alright, so I'm not too worried about her. When the doors fly open and the air whooshes into the room and blows a strand of my hair out of my face, my breath catches in my throat as Haley being rolled down the hall at top speed, connected to all kinds of rolling machines. The nurses almost have to give Haley a second surgery JUST to remove Nathan's hand from hers. Lucas trails behind, his face pale and cheeks tear stained. It's official. I'm the worst friend ever.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault!" I gush, tackling Lucas with a hug and moving to Nathan, who doesn't hug me back like Lucas but instead stares down the hall they took Haley through.

"None of this is your fault." Lucas tells me, almost sounding like he's scolding me. I still feel responsible.

"Is Haley going to be ok?" I choke.

"I don't know." Lucas tells me with tears in his ears. I notice that Nathan hasn't said anything, he's just continually staring down the hall.

"You guys should sit down." I tell them. Lucas takes my hand and leads me over to the seats tucked in the corner of the room, but Nathan hesitates for a moment before turning to walk over to sit by us.

I feel like all of this is my fault, first I left Haley for dead in the hall to help Peyton, who I lost in the crowd. Why do I have to be so incompetent? I couldn't save EITHER of my two best friends.

I lean back into my seat and sigh. The waiting begins. I've seen movies where people camp out in hospital waiting rooms for days, but I never imagined I would be one of them. I'm not leaving this hospital until my friends are alive and well.

Lucas' POV

I hear on the TVs hanging on the white wall above the chairs we've all been waiting in that it was Jimmy Edwards. Jimmy, one of my old friends, was the one who shot my best friend in the chest after practically beating her to a pulp and shooting Peyton in the leg before that. If I ever see Jimmy again, I'd do to Jimmy what he did to Haley. I'd make sure every cut, bruise, and mark of any kind was accounted for. I'm drawn out of my haze by a doctor who comes to a stop in front of Nathan, who is a wreck, Brooke, who feels guilty, Peyton, who is out of surgery and on crutches, and me. I don't know if I can feel anything anymore.

"Family of Haley James?" The doctor asks.

"It's Haley Scott." Nathan corrects her as he stands up and takes a step towards her. Nathan's eyes are bloodshot and red from both lack of rest and tears, and his clothes are wrinkled and stained with Haley's blood because he hasn't left the waiting room since we arrived so many hours ago.

Nathan's POV

My heart sinks to my stomach as the doctor lists off Haley's injuries.

"She had some internal bleeding in several different areas and a concussion, but the worst damage was from the bullet. She was very lucky. It ricocheted off one of her ribs and fractured it. We found the bullet barely a centimeter away from her heart. If it hadn't gone through her exactly the way it had, we wouldn't have been able to save her." The nurse says. Tears bite at my eyes and I realize I could have killed her by performing CPR because of the bullet so close to her heart. I almost _killed_ her.

"Is she going to be alright?" I ask the question we've all been waiting for.

"She should make a full recovery. Her heart has been restarted and it's up to her when she wakes up." I let out a puff of air I didn't know I was holding in.

"Can we see her?" I question.

"Yes, but only two at a time, we don't want her room to be too crowded in case she wakes up."

"Thank you." I tell her. She gives me a smile and I pull her into a hug, completely surprising her. She saved Haley's life, I owe her everything. The doctor tells me her room number and I return to the others.

"You and Lucas should go, you're related to her." Brooke tells us, her voice cracking as more tears surface. Peyton nods in agreement.

"Just know this is not your fault Brooke." Lucas tells her, kissing her cheek gently before standing up.

"Let's go see Haley." I tell Lucas. We begin to make our way down the hall, following the instructions the doctor gave us to get to Haley's room. When we finally reach door number 317 I stop in front of it, scared of what condition I might see Haley in. Lucas takes a step ahead of me and gives me a sympathetic look before opening the door with a click and walking in.

I follow Lucas through the door frame and when Lucas walks around the bed, Haley comes into my view and my heart breaks for the millionth time since Brooke told me she lost Haley in the school. Lucas and I wordlessly plop down into the plastic chairs on either side of her bed. I enclose her hand in mine and let out more tears. I have to hold Haley's hand in a weird position because I don't want to knock off the grey clip on her finger that is attached to a machine of some sort. When I look her up and down, I notice she is hooked up to a lot of things. There's a white bandage wrapped around her head, probably because of the concussion. I also get a little sick when I notice the donated blood dripping down a tube and into Haley's arm.

"Hey Hales." Lucas is the first to speak. "I told you that you were going to be ok." He tells her, his eyes clouded over with tears that eventually leak over his bottom eyelid.

"You can wake up now Haley." I tell her, but it's more like a request.

"If you can hear me, just squeeze my hand with one of your beautiful fingers." I cry, staring intently at her face. She only has a few bruises poking out of the bandage. I notice how Lucas' eyes are locked on the hand I'm holding, glimmering with hope.

When I get no response, I get up out of my chair just enough to kiss her forehead, being careful of the clear tubes running behind her ears, over her face, and into her nose, providing her with extra oxygen so she can heal faster.

"Come back to me Haley." I whisper before sitting back down.

"I think we should let her rest." Lucas tells me, never looking away from Haley. I didn't even notice that he took Haley's other hand in his, just like in the ambulance. I nod, but I don't get up. I just look at the hospital gown she's wearing in the spot her heart is, where I know there is a bullet hole underneath the material of the gown, along with the incisions from the surgery and bandages to help heal her broken rib. She probably has more incision scares on her sides, where the doctors and nurses told me she had internal bleeding from many of her organs.

I wonder how it happened, the internal bleeding, but I also don't think I want to know. I keep imagining what Haley's face would have looked like when Jimmy shot her, full of fear and horror. I hope I never have to see her face like that for real.


	3. Chapter 3 (Sorry about the update wait!)

**I know, I haven't updated in forever! I am SO sorry. This story was near the bottom of my to-do list because of its low amount of followers, and eventually it just fell right off! I'm really sorry about that and I'm going to try and make this story one of my active fanfictions. I know this chapter is really short but I just wanted to let everyone know I'm back before I post too much.**

Peyton's POV

As Lucas and Nathan reenter the waiting room after visiting Haley, I take a deep breath as Brooke and I prepare to see her. Brooke rubs Lucas's shoulder comfortingly and helps me to my feet. I can't feel any pain in my leg, in fact I can hardly feel it at all, because of all the painkillers I'm on. For some unknown reason I feel annoyed that Lucas and Nathan's attention was diverted to me in the school when Haley was in a predicament far worse than anything I could have possibly been going through.

"Here we go P. Sawyer." Brooke sighs as she pushes the door open.

We both gasp, both afraid for her health and curious about her condition as we slowly make our way towards her.

She looks so much different from the last time I saw her. She was grinning from ear to ear, having gotten someone as thickheaded as Brooke to understand something. Even when the shot was fired, she just looked stunned. Stunned but healthy. She was healthy, breathing and functioning without assistance.

Brooke chokes up and I try to remain the strong one in the room for everyone's sake.

Nathan's POV

It's been a day or two and Haley still hasn't woken up. I haven't left the hospital once during the whole ordeal, Lucas brought me clothes and even some of Haley's favorite books so that I can read to her. Jimmy still hasn't been thrown in prison, which will leave me on edge and frustrated until the investigation is over.

"Mr. Scott, we may have tracked down Mrs. Scott's attacker." A policeman politely informs me from the door frame to Haley's hospital room.

"What do you mean you tracked him down, don't you already know where Jimmy is?" I ask, suddenly terrified and angry thinking about the possibility of Jimmy running off without getting what he deserves.

"You see, Mr. Scott..." The officer starts to say, wringing his hands in front of him.

"Maybe a word outside?" He suggests, motioning with his head. I hadn't realized until now how hard I was squeezing Haley's hand. I nod quietly and follow him out into the hallway, gently shutting the door behind me as if Haley would actually wake up if it was slammed.

"Jimmy may not be who shot Mrs. Scott." He says.

"What do you mean, Jimmy was shooting!" I throw my words hastily in the police officer's face.

"That's the thing, Mr. Scott, we aren't sure. When a bullet moves through the barrel of a gun, it leaves a imprint on the bullet specific to one gun, and the bullet removed from Mrs. Scott does not match the gun belonging to Jimmy, but to another handgun found in a trash can." He explains as my mind is blown with confusion.

"So what are you getting at? You think there was another student with a gun?" I ask.

"We aren't positive yet, we can't get anything out of Jimmy and the fingerprints on the gun still need to be scanned and verified, but we'll know for sure any time now." The officer says, looping his thumbs around his belt in a relaxed position.

"Thanks for informing me." I mutter, walking back into Haley's room and leaving the officer to do his job. Everything is different now, shadowed and confusing with the identity of whomever shot Haley in the chest hidden and unknown. But as soon as the spotlight is thrown at someone by means of a fingerprint scanner, then they're surely going to receive justice.

I sigh as I throw myself back into the chair by Haley's bed. The machine mimicking her heart beats is the only noise keeping the room from silence, and I'm thankful for it. Hearing the machine beep assures me that no matter how sick and still Haley looks, she's still alive and breathing.

I can't hold my composure for any longer, and tears silently run down my cheeks before I begin full-on sobbing. I grasp Haley's hand with my own and press my forehead against it.

"I'm so sorry Haley, I really thought that when... when I left you in that classroom..." Just saying it makes my heart ache. How could I have thought that was what was best? Leaving her alone, scared, and unprotected?

"I thought that once I brought back Lucas and Peyton that you'd be less terrified and I thought that we'd be safer with the four of us, but I was wrong, I was stupid, and I'm really sorry." I apologize, feeling the weight of the responsibility of her injuries on my shoulders.

I don't notice the slight increase in speed of the beats in the background because I'm too distracted by the fact that Haley is squeezing my hand back, no matter how little.

"Haley, can you hear me?" I question, scooting closer and brushing a few strands of hair off her forehead with my free hand. When the beeping on the machine becomes uncontrollably fast, Haley's eyes flash open and the machine blares wildly. I don't know what to do, so I just hurriedly press the nurse button on the side of her bed.

"Hey, it's ok, it's me, I'm right here!" I try to calm her down, but her eyes keep scanning the room in a panic and she tries to sit up.

Nurses rush into the room and inject something into her IV, and she's asleep again in a matter of seconds.

"It's ok." I tell her, rubbing just below the stitched cut on her cheek with my thumb. "I'm never going to leave you again."

After a minute or two the beeps from the machine are steadily repeating at a healthy pace and the nurses finally leave. Selfishly, I'm sad that I could upset her like that.

Before the nurses had left, they had told me Haley would be able to wake up in a few hours, as soon as the drug has worn off. I'm going to wait here and read to her. My eyes fill with happy tears that we're on the home stretch of her unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's what I've got for you today! I've decided that instead of having a happy little reunion for Naley I was going to add some complications. I mean if I was Haley I wouldn't have been too happy about Nathan leaving me in that classroom.**

Nathan's POV

"Haley?" I call her name as she begins to stir. For a minute I think her movement had been my imagination, I had seen her eyelids twitch and felt her fingers close around my hand slightly.

Her eyes suddenly flutter open and tears gather at the brim of my eyes before overflowing and rolling down my cheeks. Only one of her eyes opens fully, the other is halfway swollen shut from some hit to her face, but the sight of her beautiful eyes still sends me to tears.

"Haley." I mutter again as hug her as gently as possible and cry into her hair.

"Nathan?" She chokes out. Her voice is raspy and pained, but it's her voice all the same.

"I'm right here, I love you so much." I tell her as I back away and kiss the back of her hand softly. I've never been more relieved in my life. I finally have the girl back that can make me smile even under the most dreary of circumstances. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, if she hadn't woken up I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

"Dan." She suddenly exclaims. She brings her hand to her forehead and squeezes her eyes shut as if she's in pain. I press the little controller on her bed that gives her another small dose of morphine. I'm going to do anything I can to make her feel better, even if it's as simple a gesture as pressing a button.

"What about him?" I ask her. Dan had nothing to do with anything during the last day or so before... what happened.

"He... he.." Tears are running down her cheeks as painful memories obviously resurface. Haley can't get the words out of her mouth, but I understand what she's trying to tell me when her shaky fingers brush against the wound by her heart.

I am in utter shock. Is she trying to tell me that my father tried to kill my wife?

"Haley, my dad is a lot of things, but he isn't a killer." I tell her. Her eyes harden and I know I've said the wrong thing.

"Nathan, you can't know that. You weren't there, I was. Dan shot me." She says angrily, her voice slowly returning to its formal sound. It almost sounds like she was exaggerating the _you weren't there_ as if she wants me to read between the lines. It was meant to be hurtful; she's mad at me for leaving me in that classroom. I'm mad at me too, but Haley has just accused my father of attempted murder. My father wasn't even there.

She can tell I don't believe her 100% and she turns her head away.

"Haley,"

"Don't start, Nathan. I'm telling the truth." She tells me with a glare. I can understand why she'd be mad at me, for what I did in the school, but I don't get how she can be mad at me for doubting that my own father could do something like this.

"I just need a minute." She tells me as she wipes several tears from her face after pushing away my hand and attempt to do it first.

"Don't do this, Haley." I beg her. I hate it when she's angry with me and when I see her cry there's nothing I want more than to be able to fix everything.

"Can I see Brooke?" She asks me. Since she's already upset I figure that it would be best to just do what she says. Maybe Brooke can do more for her than I can right now anyway. For her, I'm going to go to the police and suggest that it was my father.

I nod and hesitantly step out of the room, hoping she'll call me back. I get to the waiting room and pull out my cell phone, expecting to have to call Brooke, but I find that everyone had shown up and waited in the lobby when I called them about Haley first waking up a few hours ago.

Brooke, Peyton, and Lucas are eagerly waiting in silence for me to say something. When they notice my not-very-happy look, they all have looks of worry plastered onto their faces.

"She's been asking for you, Brooke." I tell her. Brooke looks both relieved and surprised, like she wasn't expecting Haley to want to see her, especially not first after me. When she realizes I'm not joking around with her, she nods and hurries off in the direction of her room with the teddy bear she brought pressed tightly against her side.

Brooke's POV

"Hey tutor girl." I sigh as I walk towards the hospital bed, where Haley lies fragile and broken. Her face brightens when she sees me, and her smile is contagious. I tuck the fluffy white stuffed bear I bought her under her elbow before plopping down into the chair next to her bedside.

She picks up the bear and her fingers run through the soft fuzz that is supposed to be its fur.

"Thanks. It's cute." She says before putting it down on her stomach and staring at me seriously.

"I need you to know that it isn't your fault." She tells me. My eyes begin watering as she's somehow read my mind.

"How did you know I feel that way?" I ask her. I look down at my hands clasped together in my lap with blurry vision before bringing my head back up and making eye contact with her. I intertwine my fingers with hers when she holds her hand out.

"Because you're you." She says. A small smile plays itself across her lips, the one where only one side of her mouth tilts upwards just enough to tell that she's being affectionate.

"You think everything is always your fault, that you always have to take care of everyone." She expands on her first statement. Haley was one of the first people besides Peyton to really understand me, so the fact that she's still here, her heart still beating, means the world to me.

"But if I hadn't lost you in the crowd..." No matter what she tells me I'm always going to wish I had been able to prevent this.

"Brooke." Haley stares at me with puppy dog eyes, and it's amazing that the only thing she wants me to do when she's in such a sucky situation is for me to feel better about myself.

Haley's POV

"Knock-knock." Lucas says as he slowly walks into the room in order not to surprise me. Peyton is trailing behind him on crutches, but when she sees me the corners of her mouth turn upward.

"You do know that just saying knock-knock and walking in defeats the purpose of actually knocking, right?" I joke. He cracks a smile and replies as he moves closer.

"Not even a bullet can kill your snarkiness." He jokes as he and Peyton pull up more chairs on each side of Brooke.

"What happened with Nathan? He looked pretty upset when he left your room." Lucas asks me. Brooke and Peyton glare at him, like they wanted to keep me in a good mood.

"It was nothing." I tell him. I don't want to tell them that my own husband thinks I lied about who put me in the hospital.

"Haley..." He pushes. The look on his face tells me that he's not going to give up until I spill.

"He didn't believe me when I told him who shot me." I answer, so quietly that I'm not sure I said it myself.

"It wasn't Jimmy?" Peyton suddenly blurts out. Somehow I could tell Nathan knew it wasn't Jimmy, but the three of them seem completely oblivious.

"Haley, who shot you?!" Brooke asks, finally butting in to the new serious conversation. I make eye contact with Lucas, like I'm asking him permission to say it, even though he doesn't know why I would ask his permission yet.

"Dan." I answer.


End file.
